Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Oliver O'Connell

Jan 6 hearings - live: Trump team kept trying to overturn election as rioters came within 40ft of Pence

Getty Images

Jan 6 hearings: Ivanka Trump recalls father called Pence ‘a wimp’ in final call

The third public hearing of the January 6 House select committee on Thursday featured bombshell testimony regarding a pressure campaign by Donald Trump and law professor John Eastman to get former vice president Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election.

The committee has sought to demonstrate that Mr Trump knew he lost the election, yet nonetheless “oversaw a scheme” to overturn the result “when the vice president refused to go along with it” and that “he [Mr Trump] unleashed a violent mob against Pence at the Capitol”.

Members of Mr Trump’s family and staff testified about a “heated” call with Mr Pence that morning, after which the president rewrote his rally speech with sharp lines about his vice president.

He later sent a tweet causing angry rioters to surge forward, with some coming within 40ft of Pence as he was evacuated.

The day after the failed attempt to overturn the election, Mr Eastman emailed asking for a pardon, which he did not receive.

The committee also sent a request to Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas’s wife Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas, a conservative activist and lawyer.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.